^Burrough, Bryan (14 March 2012). "Chasing Radicals (and Breaking the Rule of Law)". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-15. What it is not is a history of the F.B.I. Here’s the thing: For 104 years now the Federal Bureau of Investigation has essentially worn two hats — its traditional law enforcement “arrest a bad guy” hat and its more controversial intelligence hat. The latter is the part of the F.B.I. that from World War I on investigated all manner of political radicals and Communists, compiled lists of Americans to be detained in the event of national emergency and engaged in at least half a century of illegal wiretapping, mail opening and burglaries. It’s this side of the shop — and exclusively this side — that interests Mr. Weiner, a former reporter for The New York Times.